“As migration worldwide soars to record highs, far less visible has been its toll: The tens of thousands of people who die or simply disappear during their journeys, never to be seen again. In most cases, nobody is keeping track: Barely counted in life, these people don’t register in death, as if they never lived at all.” AP: A growing toll: 56,800 migrants dead and missing in 4 years.

+ The unreal migrant story: “President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the number of military troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border could reach 15,000 — roughly double the number the Pentagon said it currently plans for a mission whose dimensions are shifting daily.” (It will continue to shift daily until November 6.)

+ And the other half of the strategy: Racist ads.